From one of our Cheza Nami, parent-and-me class moms. Thank you Rihka Rani for spotlighting our organization in the Oakland Magazine. Go here to read the article



http://www.oaklandmagazine.com/Oakland-Magazine/September-October-2013/The-6-Questions-Catherine-Ndungu-Case/

Cheza Nami has conducted several local free community drum circles and the greatest need we have identified is that of actively engaging all participants without adequate instruments.  We believe in the experiential form of education. By increasing our inventory of musical instruments, we are in a position to give everyone present a chance to explore African culture as they touch, feel or play available instruments. This is a wonderful way of enriching the lives of our community members as they learn about the things that make African culture so unique. 
Our instruments are used by the public and are in constant need of repair and/or replacement. In our community drum circles, we  welcome and encourage everyone to participate regardless of whether they have an African musical instruments or not.  As such, we need to have a supply of African instruments on hand to fulfill this purpose at no cost to the community. 

In our effort to increase our library of instruments we recently reached out to local community organizations for funds to purchase more instruments. We are happy to announce the addition of a set of Dun dun drums (pictured) as well as a new Djembe drum to our instrument library.

Purchase of these new instruments was supported in part by a grant from the City of Livermore Commission for the Arts. 


We are in constant need of new instruments and will continue to seek out additional funds to help us meet our goals, however, the purchase of these new drums is a big accomplishment for us and we want the extend our sincere gratitude to the City of Livermore Commission for the Arts.

A HUGE thank you to Ron Scudder for building an awesome base for our kid's marimba. We can't believe how awesome it looks and what a great addition it makes. Thank you for making such an amazing contribution Ron. We promise you that the Cheza Nami kids will love this instrument and make really good use of it. Asante sana!

Interested in donating instruments and helping us build our instrument library? Please email us at info@chezanami.org or call 925-398-3827

We are excited to participate in this year's Livermore wine country festival entertainment line up. This is always a fun festival with lots of activities for the whole family. Be on the look out for some African music and dance performances on the stage at  L St. and Second St.  You don't want to miss a chance to play with us. 

2pm Saturday, May 4th and 
1:30pm Sunday, May 5th.

Performances supported in part by a grant from the City of Livermore Commission for the Arts



Festival information

Ok tots (parents too!!), We are back!! Join us for the Spring parent-and-me African music and dance class at HackerMoms in Berkleley. Bring your tot for 30 minutes of intense music, songs, games, drum circles and African-themed-stories in a highly energetic and rhythm-centric class at HackerMoms.

Date: 6 Saturdays Starting Saturday April 13th- May 18th
Time: 10:00am -10:30 am
Address: 3288 Adeline Street Berkeley, CA. 
COST: $12 drop-in class or $10 per class when you buy a 6-class series for $60.

This class is appropriate for children 6 months - 5 years with their caregiver.

Join us at the Mothership - HackerMoms 3288 Adeline Street, Berkeley 94703 for 6-class series Sat. Jan 26th- Mar 2nd 10:00- 10:30 am  : $60, drop-in rate: $12. Bring your tot and get ready to boogie, African style!

February 24th and March 17th
3pm-5pm
Bothwell Arts Center
2466 8th St.
Livermore, CA 94550
FREE!!

Join us at the Bothwell art center for a FREE community drum circle facilitated by master drummer and dance teacher Ibrahima (Ibou) Ngom. No prior knowledge of drumming or musical skill is necessary. Join master drummer Ibrahima (Ibou) N’gom in this workshop that provides a wonderful way to explore music, culture and promote togetherness. Drummers will learn simple rhythms and be able to progress to more complex notes and beats. Bring your drum or borrow one of ours. This unique cultural and recreational experience is not one to miss! Please use the registration form on the event page here to save your space

Cheza Nami and Rhythmix partner for two workshops with master instructors in African drum and dance - perfect for all experience levels

When: Saturday, March 16, 2013
Drum: 12:30 - 2:00pm; Dance: 2:15 - 3:45pm
Where: Rhythmix Cultural Works
2513 Blanding Avenue, Alameda, CA 94501
Info:   (510) 865-5060 
Buy Tickets

Dance workshop (Ages 13 and up)
12:30 pm- 2:00 pm ($20 per person)

This workshop is appropriate for all levels. Join Julia Chigamba to experience the beauty of traditional African dance and move to the beat of live African drumming. It's a great work out! Dancers complete the workshop in three separate phases: Phase 1 includes a thorough warm up; Phase 2 energizes the mind and body while participants learn choreographed African dance movements; Phase 3 includes calming to cool down the body. Note: Dance is barefoot so wear comfortable clothing that allows free movement.

Drum workshop (Ages 13 and up)
2:15 pm- 3:45pm am ($20 per person) 

No prior knowledge of drumming or musical skill is necessary. Join master drummer Ibrahima (Ibou) N'gom in this workshop that provides a wonderful way to explore music, culture and promote togetherness. Drummers learn simple rhythms and progress to more complex notes and beats. Bring your drum or borrow one of ours. This unique cultural and recreational experience is not one to miss! 


For more information and to purchase tickets, visit our event page here.

Join us at the Bankhead theater as we present Julia Chigamba and the AMAZING Chinyakare ensemble as LSOD dance students showcase various dance styles during their Mardi Gras Dance Extravaganza at the Bankhead theater. This will be an unique opportunity for Cheza Nami Foundation to show off a beautiful African cultural performance to young dance enthusiasts and their families with the help of the very talented Chinyakare ensemble. We are especially excited about this guest performance as it helps us with our efforts of bringing more African cultural programming to the Tri-Valley. If you would like to support local youth dancers and see the Chinyakare ensemble perform, please see the link below to purchase tickets. 

Date: January 11th, 2013

Where: Bankhead Theater

2400 1st Street Livermore, CA 94550

Program starts at 7pm.

Link  for more information about the Chinyakare Ensemble
Link to Purchase tickets

Join us on December 29th, 2012, 3-6pm at the Bothwell Arts Center in Livermore for an Afternoon of conversation, arts, music, and an African Drum circle as we usher in 2013. Purchase your ticket early for this family friendly event and check out our flyer for more information.